Alabama
Portal Rumor Mill: Transfer season kicks off with a bang
Portal Rumor Mill: Transfer season kicks off with a bang
The transfer portal officially opened on Monday and hundreds of players have already entered looking for a new home and a fresh start. Here’s what Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney is hearing so far in this Portal Rumor Mill.
The former Florida defensive end who’s now a four-star in the portal rankings is hearing from “a lot of schools” but the only visit planned so far is to Texas A&M.
The Aggies are definitely a team to watch and this could be a quick flip unless Collins wants to wait and see some other programs before a decision.
Cooper does not have any visits finalized yet but the three-star defensive back from Florida State is hearing most from Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State and Memphis so far.
None of those programs were in Cooper’s top six before he chose the Seminoles coming out of high school.
Two official visits have been set up for the former Arkansas defensive end who finished with 23 tackles and one sack this season. Davillier is planning to see UCLA and Mississippi State before making any final decisions.
After one season at Nebraska, the former four-star is looking for a new home but the word is that the Huskers are not giving up on keeping him and continue to stay in communication about staying in Lincoln.
So far, the other main competitor has been Florida State but others are expected to jump in as no visits have been set yet.
Despite not putting up big numbers at USC, Eldridge is seeing major interest from Duke, Washington, Washington State, San Diego State, Boise State, Cal and Eastern Washington so far.
The former Bellingham (Wash.) Lynden Christian three-star tight end will visit Washington on Dec. 13 as the only visit planned so far. New interest from Georgia Tech and Ole Miss is also coming in now.
The four-star offensive lineman put up impressive PFF numbers at Harvard this season and it’s now given him offers from Virginia, Memphis, James Madison and a host of other programs with a ton of new interest coming in as well.
Programs from all Power Four conferences have reached out so Gentle’s list could change dramatically in the coming days. Gentle was at Memphis on Monday and then has trips to Virginia, Tulane and James Madison soon.
Nebraska will get the first visit from Graham on Thursday and the former Florida State linebacker will be at Kansas on Saturday as those two programs have emerged early on in Graham’s portal recruitment.
Many others are expected to get involved in the coming days.
After it didn’t work out at Texas Tech after one season, the five-star receiver was at Texas A&M on Monday and if all goes well the Aggies could be loading up majorly at wide receiver through the portal. Hudson is definitely one to watch as the Aggies were involved late in his high school recruitment.
Kelly caught 53 passes for 869 yards and four touchdowns this season and so the four-star receiver has received significant interest since entering the portal.
Michigan State and Louisville are Kelly’s visits that are set in stone and then Cal, Washington, Kansas, Memphis and North Carolina are reaching out most.
Key led Kentucky with 47 receptions for 715 yards and two touchdowns. Louisville, Nebraska, Georgia and South Carolina are the most involved in his recruitment now. The four-star is planning a visit to Louisville early next week as there continue to be rumors that Vince Marrow could join that staff so the Cardinals will be one to watch.
After backing up Ethan Garbers at UCLA this season, Martin is on the move and has a host of programs reaching out already for the former Inglewood, Calif., quarterback. Stanford, in particular, has reached out but eight or nine others will get involved with the talented QB as well.
The three-star linebacker from Dartmouth was a stat stuffer this season with 30 tackles, five sacks, five pass breakups, and Mullen is getting significant interest now.
Memphis, Georgia Tech, Nevada, UAB and a host of MAC programs are reaching out to Mullen as he’s finalizing visits at this point.
The four-star offensive lineman who was impressive at Cal Poly this season has five visits coming up before Christmas with four of them in the ACC.
Norton will be at Wake Forest on Dec. 14 and then every two days after that he will see Virginia, Syracuse, Georgia Tech and Kansas State to close things out on Dec. 22.
A four-star defensive end in the 2023 class, Osborne did not make much of an impact at Alabama this season but after jumping in the portal he’s seeing some significant interest already.
USC, LSU, Penn State and SMU are reaching out but Osborne has not finalized any visits yet.
The former four-star running back in the 2023 class signed with Iowa State but then bounced to New Mexico this season, and he rushed for 1,063 yards and nine touchdowns this season.
Sanders was at Michigan State on Monday and he’ll be at Arizona on Wednesday and Thursday. More trips could be coming as Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Stanford and Memphis have offered in recent days.
Texas Tech, Pitt, Florida State, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia Tech and Alabama will all receive visits over the coming weeks as Simmons is one of the most wanted offensive linemen in the portal coming out of Western Carolina.
Oklahoma offered Simmons on Monday and then Vanderbilt and Nebraska are also talking a lot, along with Michigan and Auburn.
With former coach Gus Malzahn leaving to be the offensive coordinator at Florida State, a whole bunch of UCF players have hit the portal including Threats, who has Nebraska, Northwestern, Michigan State, UCLA and Syracuse reaching out most.
The only visit the three-star defensive back has planned so far is with the Bruins this week.
Alabama residents will make their choice for U.S. Congress during the May 19 primary, and officials are urging people to vote despite an ever-evolving situation surrounding the state’s congressional maps.
Currently, there are legal disputes surrounding the Congressional districts map in use in Alabama. Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in late April on a redistricting case in Louisiana, Alabama asked for the preliminary injunction which barred them from redrawing their maps until 2030 to be lifted, which the courts have granted as of May 11.
Though there’s been some confusion in the face of ongoing legal motions regarding the maps, what is certain is that primary elections will go on as planned despite Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey calling for a special election in August for the affected congressional districts — Districts 1, 2, 6 and 7.
The Northern District Court of Alabama, which originally issued the injunction, still has to reconsider the case. The court asked state officials in a May 12 order to explain the plan for the 2026 elections and to explain how they plan to “ensure that all Alabamians may timely and efficaciously exercise their constitutional right to vote.”
There are two more elections after the primaries this month. On June 16, the state will hold primary runoff elections, and on Nov. 3, the state will host the general election. Additional candidates could come up after the primaries conclude, so once the names are finalized, the ballots may appear differently in November.
The special election in races affected by new congressional maps is currently planned for Aug. 11, though officials — including Ivey — have encouraged all voters to cast their ballots in the regular May 19 primary.
Who’s running for U.S. Senate?
The seat currently held by U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville is up for election. Tuberville, who has thrown his hat in the governor’s race, will not be returning to the position, so all candidates listed would be new to the Senate. The other seat is held by U.S. Sen. Katie Britt and won’t be open until her term expires in 2028.
Republican candidates
- Seth Burton
- Dale Shelton Deas Jr.
- Jared Hudson
- Steve Marshall
- Barry Moore
- Rodney Walker
Some names on this list are already serving in federal and Alabama state government positions, with Marshall currently serving as the state’s Attorney General, and Moore currently representing Alabama’s 1st District in the House of Representatives and previously representing the 2nd District. Of the candidates, President Donald Trump has endorsed only one, which is Moore.
Hudson is the only candidate who has attempted to run for another position, albeit unsuccessfully — he ran for sheriff of Jefferson County in 2022, but lost to incumbent Sheriff Mark Pettway.
Democratic candidates
- Dakarai Larriett
- Kyle Sweetser
- Everett Wess
- Mark S. Wheeler II
Who’s running for House of Representatives?
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell is running unopposed in District 7. Voters in every district have candidates from both sides of the aisle to consider.
Considering the special election that is now on the horizon, candidate names may appear differently on ballots in August if different maps are approved. For the May 19 primaries, the following is how candidate names will appear.
District 1 Republican Candidates
- Jerry Carl
- James (Jimmy) Dees
- Rhett Marques
- Joshua McKee
- John Mills
- James Richardson
- Austin Sidwell
District 1 Democratic Candidates
Senate candidate Moore currently holds the District 1 position, so no candidates are incumbents. A few of the candidates in this race have previous political experience. Carl is a former member of the U.S. House and used to represent District 1, with his tenure in office lasting from 2021-25. Marques is a current Alabama State House representative.
District 2 Republican Candidates
District 2 Democratic Candidates
U.S. Rep. Figures currently holds the District 2 position.
District 3 Republican Candidates
District 3 Democratic Candidates
U.S. Rep. Rogers currently holds the District 3 position.
District 4 Republican Candidates
- Robert B. Aderholt
- Tommy Barnes
District 4 Democratic Candidates
- Amanda N. Pusczek
- Shane Weaver
U.S. Rep. Aderholt currently holds the District 4 position. His one Republican opponent, Barnes, has a history in public service, serving as a Colbert County Commissioner.
District 5 Republican Candidates
District 5 Democratic Candidates
- Jeremy Devito
- Candice Dollar Duvieilh
- Andrew Sneed
U.S. Rep. Strong currently holds the District 5 position.
District 6 Republican candidates
District 6 Democratic candidates
U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer currently holds the District 6 position.
How do I check my voter registration status?
To vote in the primary election, voters need to have been registered to vote in Alabama for 15 days before the election is scheduled to happen.
To check your registration status, visit vote.gov.
Sarah Clifton covers business for the Montgomery Advertiser. You can reach her at sclifton@montgome.gannett.com or follow her on X @sarahgclifton and TikTok @sarahgclifton. To support her work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
PENSACOLA, Fla. — A bipartisan bill is making its way through Washington that would preserve and possibly restore a famous piece of naval aviation history.
The F-14 Tomcat was in service with the Navy for more than 30 years and was famously used in the original “Top Gun” movie.
But when the aircraft retired in 2005, the U.S. government destroyed a majority of the airplanes that were here in the U.S. This made the prospects of the jet returning to the skies next to impossible.
The “Maverick Act” hopes to bring a jet that inspired a generation back to life.
“The Maverick Act got a lot of support,” “It passed the Senate unanimously. It now heads to Congress for a final vote.”
Pensacola Navy veteran Dan McCort can still feel the raw power the F-14 Tomcat brought to naval aviation.
“It was a blast to fly. I gotta tell you I got it,” McCort said. “I love the airplane. I love the missions because it came with a huge mission set.”
The only country in the world flying the jet was Iran. The jets were given to Iran in 1979. But when the government was overthrown, the jets fell into the hands of an anti-American government.
Because of that, when the jet retired in 2006, the U.S. ordered most of the aircraft and its parts be destroyed.
During Operation Epic Fury, American and Israeli pilots destroyed Iran’s entire Air Force, including all the remaining flyable F-14s.
“We had to take them out, but boy that was hard for me to watch,” McCort said.
A bill dubbed the “Maverick Act” was introduced through a bipartisan effort. The legislation would preserve and restore three F-14s sitting in our nation’s boneyard.
“That airplane inspired an entire nation, partly because of the movie, partly because of the times it was hard Cold War, and it represented frankly American air power,” said McCort.
“A fantastic piece of equipment that served our country well,” Congressman Jimmy Patronis said. “But I can’t help but poke fun at it simply because of what Tom Cruise has done with the most recent ‘Top Gun’ movies.”
The bill calls for the Navy to donate the Tomcats to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where they will be restored. If there’s enough spare parts, the bill calls for one of them to be restored to flight status to be flown at airshows across the country.
All of this would be funded by private donors, and not American taxpayers.
“If there’s no taxpayer dollars being used to restore these things then put it on the table,” said Patronis.
McCort says restoring the airplane will cost millions of dollars.
“A foundation that could generate some donations to defer the costs of making this thing fly because it will not be inexpensive,” said McCort. “I believe we’ll pay dividends down the road, both for the museum as well as a recruiting opportunity… as well as a recruiting opportunity for the country in general, and for the Navy frankly.”
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